Goals

To understand signal transduction events in the development of cancer by identifying new genes involved in cell signaling pathways

To develop new methods to detect changes in signaling events

To develop inhibitors of signal transduction that could lead to new anti-cancer therapies

Meetings and Events

Quarterly meetings for new members to present their research

Quarterly seminars given by members of the program area

Quarterly seminars given by invited speakers from outside institutions

Twice a year mini-symposia on Signal Transduction and Cancer Therapeutics

Leadership

Dr. Richard Finn, director of the Signal Transduction and Therapeutics Program, was an undergraduate at UCLA, where he was involved with early laboratory studies investigating the HER2 oncogene and the development of monoclonal antibodies to this target in breast cancer with Dr. Dennis Slamon. He participated in the pre-clinical studies that defined the clinical candidate that eventually humanized and became the FDA approved agent trastuzumab (Herceptin). He went on to medical school at USC then returned to UCLA for his clinical training in internal medicine, and then hematology and oncology. Finn's research interests are focused in the development of targeted therapeutics for solid tumors across histologies to support the larger efforts of the department.

Dr. Heather Christofk, co-director of the Signal Transduction and Therapeutics Program, earned a B.S. in Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology at UCLA in 2001, and a Ph.D. in Cell and Developmental Biology at Harvard in 2007. As a graduate student at Harvard working with Dr. Lewis Cantley, she identified a key protein in cancer metabolism (the M2 splice isoform of pyruvate kinase) and the mechanism by which it contributes to cancer cell proliferation by promoting anabolic glucose metabolism. Christofk's research interests are focused on understanding the role of metabolic transitions in cellular transformation, virus infection and differentiation. She is a Searle Scholar, and recipient of the Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award, the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award and an American Cancer Society Research Scholar Award.

Upcoming Events

The following list is for upcoming events and seminars of notable interest to the Signal Transduction and Therapeutics Program and its members. This calendar is updated automatically.

For a list of all upcoming JCCC events (including other research programs, patients and survivors, and the UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation), please visit the Events Calendar.